A.N: Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter but the document uploader didn't want to work yesterday.
Thanks for reviews, as always.
Enjoy!
Cures?
The Tower of Salvation in Tethe'alla was near identical, Raine found as they approached it, to the one in Sylvarant. It still had the same height, that she could see anyway, for when she stood back from it and craned her head back, she still couldn't see the top, obscured by clouds as it was. She had to wonder just how tall it was…if perhaps it went into the upper atmosphere of the world, to connect directly to Derris-Kharlan. The only difference between this tower and the one in Sylvarant seemed to be that this one was more easily accessed.
Walking up those strange disjointed green-blue glass steps she stood amongst the others, waiting for Zelos to open up the tower.
"Coming here reminds me of my journey to regenerate the world." Colette murmured, sadness in her voice as well as nostalgia. It was a hell of a simpler time back then even if it was only a few months ago…so much had happened…
"But this time, we're here to cure your illness." Lloyd reminded, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder briefly, giving her a reassuring smile.
"I'm curious to see what the design of Tethe'alla's Tower of Salvation is like." Raine hummed. If the outside seemed the same, would the inside be different? Looking down the steps she noticed Zelos finally clambering up them and she smiled to herself at the thought of discovering the inside of this tower.
"Now, Zelos! Open the door! Quickly!" she demanded.
Zelos lifted an eyebrow, swerving straight for the oracle stone type structure that stood to the right of the door without stopping.
"You know," he began as he headed for it "you can get really scary sometimes."
With the Cruxis Crystal in hand he pressed it down onto the receiving pad of the stone. A second later, the stone door of the tower slid open smoothly. Raine grinned enthusiastically. Zelos bounced on his heels, suddenly full of himself.
"Oh, yeah! Check me out! It's my time to shine! Do I look like a Chosen or what?"
Raine lifted an eyebrow, pushing inside the tower, vaguely registering the conversation behind her.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's get going." Lloyd muttered.
Zelos cackled. "Roger!"
"That's a very disturbing laugh…" Regal commented and Raine stopped in the doorway, turning to look at the men.
"Zelos…is something wrong?" Presea asked tentatively. Raine passed her a questioning glance…Zelos didn't seem any different…just a little more pretentious than usual.
Zelos seemed equally stunned by the question. "What?"
"You're even more…um…"
"Obnoxious?" Sheena supplied "Nah, he's always like this. Just ignore him."
Zelos sniggered quietly to himself, mumbling something before following the rest of the group in. Raine watched him cautiously for a moment. His behaviour was rather…odd and she had to wonder just what he was up to. Presea clearly seemed to notice it, though the others remained oblivious. It was true that Zelos had acted a little…differently on several occasions and she wondered if there was a link between those moments. Deciding to keep an eye on him, she turned back and entered the tower, its Chosen at her side.
--
Raine glanced around at the inside of the tower of salvation as they warped to the second walkway of the tower. It had the same blue-green hue inside it, bouncing off walls that seemed not to exist. The floor was glass and black pillars, inscribed with glowing blue mana lines, lined the walkway.
It seemed, all in all, the same as the tower in Sylvarant. Especially when they came across those endless coils of coffins, gliding eerily about the room.
Zelos took in a breath in disgust.
"Ghastly…" Regal commented, his face contorted.
Sheena looked around, confusion furrowing her brow. "Wait. Is this really Tethe'alla?"
Apparently she, like Raine, had noticed that the places seemed to be identical.
"It looks identical to Sylvarant's Tower of Salvation!" Genis agreed.
"My body…I can't stop shaking. This is the same place!" Colette whimpered.
"It can't be!" Lloyd protested.
Raine frowned pacing forwards into the main chamber of the room, casting her eyes up the long paths of earth that would over head, her eyes flicking over to a broken pillar…which if she remembered correctly…
"Lloyd. Remember this?" she gestured to the pillar, Lloyd running over a moment later, his brow creasing.
"That's…wait, I broke that!"
It was as they were distracted by the realisation of the tower that something, or rather, someone, materialised behind them. His voice drifted over to them as he spoke.
"The two worlds are connected here. Of course it's the same place." Kratos stated quietly.
Lloyd whipped around, the rest of the group following suit, finding Kratos standing before them, arms folded over his chest.
"Kratos…it's you again…" Lloyd breathed, stepping towards the man. "Who are you, really? Are you really one of Mithos' companions from 4,000 years ago?"
Kratos stared at his son for a moment, as if trying to judge how the boy felt about the situation.
"Good," he answered eventually "Since you figured that out, it saves me the time to explain. We will take the Chosen as the new body for Martel."
"You're still trying to do that? Are you so intent on resurrecting Martel that you're willing to distort the entire world in the process?!"
Kratos grasped the hilt of his sword, pulling it free from its scabbard slowly.
"I have no need to explain."
"So in the end, you really are our enemy! I kept thinking…hoping that you might be good…but you're not!"
Kratos' eyes narrowed. "I should think that would be obvious at this point."
Raine shook her head, staring at Kratos even as Lloyd drew his own swords. Would he never learn? Still, she had to wonder exactly what Kratos had been doing by aiding them…if he had indeed been aiding them. She had had the vague hope that perhaps he had turned against Yggdrasill, after all he had shown signs of doing so before, but apparently not. Her only comfort was that she was not overly surprised that he hadn't turned his back on his leader. What she had said to him in the Iselia forest was true…he did go running back to Cruxis and he really was too weak to break away from it. She had to wonder just why she still found him attractive, knowing that about him.
"Don't hold back this time!" Lloyd growled in warning, looking at the man he still didn't realise was his father. Raine thought she saw a flicker of pride and amusement on Kratos' face, for just a second before his son charged at him.
Kratos held back as the boy ran towards him, his eyes flicking to Sheena and Genis as they leapt forwards into the battle. These were the same people he had fought months ago, when Colette had lost her soul…he would test how far their nerve had progressed, along with their skills. Would Sheena now have the strength to attack him outright, without waiting for Lloyd to be at her side? Would Genis' spells be able to break his barriers? And Raine…would she fight against him? Would she use all her cunning in battle, use those spells of hers that could broil flesh in seconds?
From the way she stepped forwards, skirting to the side of the battlefield to begin casting her spells, she would and he found himself glad of the fact. He would not have her cower away from her own true nature and betray her friends, as he had, for his sake.
Lloyd's first blow struck him hard and took him by surprise, lost in thoughts as he had been and he snapped his blade up barely in time, the sound of metal on metal clashing in his ears. Harsh and clear as the peals of steel rang and he leapt back from the boy, eyes sweeping over all his opponents.
Lloyd's second blow was not as effective as the first, and he deflected it easily with a flick of his sword before spinning on his left foot as the boy stumbled, bringing a hard kick to his unprotected side. A second later he had to replace his foot on the ground, swinging his sword back to his right-side without even looking, knowing Sheena was there, and he caught the girl across the chest with the flat of his blade. His aim was not to kill here…merely to render the first battalion useless, so to speak. If he knocked out the first four, the remainder of the group would be too busy caring for them to defend themselves properly.
With Lloyd and Sheena staggering behind him he darted for Genis, intent of knocking the boy out before he could release the spell he was casting. He scanned the runes circling about the boy as he ran towards him, realising a second later the attack he was preparing. Eruption. The boy really did have a penchant for that attack.
He lifted Flamberge as he charged for the boy, noting that when the boy lifted his head to look at the man charging at him, there was no fear or panic this time…instead his eyes hardened in determination. Kratos almost smirked to himself. The boy was taking after his sister, finally growing a backbone.
Tightening his hand about his sword's hilt, he began to lift it, only to have to snap it down again a moment later when a sword appeared in front of him, Lloyd sweeping round to the man's front. Mouth set into a grim frown he barrelled forwards a moment later, slamming into the man's stomach, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
Grunting, Kratos shoved the boy from atop him, snatching his sword from the ground as light surrounded Lloyd, healing the scrape that Flamberge had caused the boy. It seemed to renew him too, for a moment later, he leapt to his feet, turning to Kratos with a cocky, challenging stance. Kratos smiled inwardly before launching himself towards his son, sword snapping left, right, down, the last attack barely blocked, leaving another thin scrape on the boy. He didn't back off for a second though and Kratos found himself almost beginning to waver under the boy's attacks, to find them challenging. Almost.
They locked blades and Kratos suddenly had the upper hand. Lloyd's techniques may be improving, and even his physical strength growing…but he was still no match for an angel, not when it came to pure brute strength. Forcing his blade further into the lock between Lloyd's he twisted suddenly and pulled his hand back, wrenching the weapons from Lloyd's grasp. They clattered loudly in as they struck stone floor. The boy gasped staggering back as Kratos took a step forwards, swiping his blade so that the flat of it collided with the boy's head.
He almost flinched as the boy crumbled to the floor.
With one down Kratos turned his gaze to the other boy. Mana was building in the air, prickling at Kratos' sensitive skin and any second now, he would release a wave of fire upon him. Grimacing he lifted his sword before him, preparing to cast guardian, when a burst of pain between his shoulder blades made him stagger. He spun to see Sheena standing behind him, smirking triumphantly at the fact she had distracted him and he charged at her.
The ninja ducked out the way at the last moment though and his blow missed her completely, sending his sword swiping through thin air and him stumbling to counter for the movement. Another blow into the small of his back alerted him to Sheena's proximity and he turned to face her again, jumping back this time.
Except that there was no firm ground under his feet when he came to landing, just a jumble of rock and flame. He staggered, flames soaring up above him, grasping him and tossing him into the air, his body struck time and again by rock and flame. When the mana faded he slammed into the floor heavily, grunting and gasping for air, wincing at the broken bones, bruises and burns that afflicted him. He staggered upright after a moment, too aware that he was still in battle and he raised his head to glare at Genis…catching sight of Lloyd rising to his feet out of the corner of his eye.
"Resurrection!"
Spinning, Kratos looked to Raine and lifted his sword to eye level. With her able to heal and revive there was no way he could afford to take the group out one at a time. So he would have to do it all at once.
Taking himself back to the very corner of the battle field he allowed himself to focus on his mana, grasping at it within himself and tugging at it, pulling and winding it into shape, burning bright white in his mind's eye as he stared blankly at the battle field.
Light rose about his feet, pure white and blinding, and for a moment, Lloyd and Sheena staggered back the light driving them away temporarily. Raine lifted her eyebrow, right across the other side of the arena and she lifted her staff, mirroring her former lover.
She cast desperately, grasping at mana in the air…she knew what he was going to do and she had to get there first. And she wanted to do it in the most ironic way…
She summoned them in her mind, thin beams of white that would strike down from above them, a single shining point above the battlefield.
Kratos narrowed his eyes, glaring at his opponents from within the glow. The words were conjured in his mind now, the mana in his body thrumming with their power. Looking at the woman mirroring his stance, his attack, he let the words flow.
"Sacred powers! Cast thy purifying light on these corrupt souls. Rest in peace, sinners!"
He pulled the sword back, vertical before his face.
"Judgement!"
The light shot down in great, blinding beams, the sheer mana that struck the ground near Lloyd and Sheena overpowering them, sending them crumbling to the floor. Genis fell a second later, the observers driven back by the light. And through the volley of light and mana and power, Raine stood fast, releasing her spell moments before a beam struck the ground centimetres before her feet.
He watched her fall as his own attack before snapping his head up, looking at the shimmering ball of light she had created, his eyes widening as a single beam shot straight towards him.
He threw guardian up in an attempt to protect himself…a second too late as he felt heat and light sear his skin before the shield formed and enclosed him, protecting him until the lights died away.
Letting the shield drop, Kratos staggered back, staring down at his singed abdomen before flicking his eyes up as the conscious members of Lloyd's group dashed towards their fallen comrades. Angels materialised about the group a moment later, seizing them.
Regal growled, shoving one of them away as he bent over Sheena, only to receive a hard blow from a staff.
"I would advise against resisting, for there will be no mercy this time." He suggested quietly, though his gaze was entirely free of malice as he looked over the group before striding over to the elevator. He travelled up, the angels and the group around him.
He watched over them as the males and females were separated before turning on his heel and leaving them to themselves. He had to report to Yggdrasill…and apply some much needed ice to the burning wound on his chest and stomach. They had almost beaten him…much more training and perhaps they could do it. And if they could beat him…they weren't far off being able to beat Yggdrasill.
--
Raine woke up slowly, wearily, to the sound of faint, fogged voices. Blinking, she pushed herself up on her hands, feeling cold metal beneath her hands.
"Professor? Are you ok?"
She turned at the sound of Colette's concerned voice, her face slowly swimming into focus.
"Ah…yes, I'm fine."
"Maybe we were tricked," Genis was suggesting, from where she couldn't see though and she staggered to her feet, finding her and the three other females locked in a cell, presumably in Derris-Kharlan. She listened into what Genis was saying. "He had us gather the materials to treat Colette and then had us bring her here…That sure saved them a lot of time and effort."
"Kratos used us? Did he betray us again?" Lloyd asked.
Raine frowned to herself, mulling over the question in her mind, before flicking back to the conversation. She could dwell on her feelings when they were in a less dire situation.
"Damn it!! This thing's built solid as a rock! And I can't open the lock either." Lloyd kicked at the bars in frustration.
"Same here. It won't budge at all." Sheena called to him. Raine guessed they'd tried whilst she was conscious.
"So we're completely trapped…"
"Move." The command came from Regal and Raine cocked her head, pressing herself to the bars, wondering what he was doing.
A blast of blue-white light followed, metal being shattered and blown across the room. Her eyes widened…that kind of power…in a human…
Startled cries went up and Raine gasped in surprise. A few moments after the boys appeared over the opposite side of the room, before taking a horizontal lift over to the girl's cage and breaking open the door for them.
Stepping out, Raine looked around at the blank white room, the technology.
"How did you do that?" Lloyd asked, looking at Regal intently.
"I originally specialized in fighting with my hands, not my feet. And since Exspheres amplify their user's abilities far above their maximum limits, this result is to be expected."
"Then why don't you just fight with your hands?" Zelos asked. Raine rolled her eyes. Did he know nothing about Regal and his past?
"I swore I would never fight with these hands again. This time, I used them in order to save you."
Lloyd nodded, understanding. "All right. Everybody, grab what you can and let's get out of here!"
They headed for the transporter, a glowing purple disc contained in a frame. Lloyd stepped up onto it quickly, but after a few seconds, still remained standing there. He looked down, confused.
"What the? That's weird. This is a transporter, right?"
"There may be a problem with the destination." Raine offered as an answer.
"Man, what do we do now?" he complained "We can't stay here."
"Lloyd, I'll go fly around and have a look." Colette offered. Lloyd frowned but nodded after a moment.
"Ok…don't do anything dangerous."
"I know." She assured before releasing her wings, beating them to lift herself into the air, disappearing from view as she rose.
She reappeared a few minutes later, standing on the warp pad Lloyd had moved away from. Lloyd grinned.
"Nice job, Colette. Now let's go, everyone!"
They took the warp pad up to the area Colette had just been in and Raine looked around, her interest piqued.
Welgaia was…an odd combination of drab and mystical. Harsh, dull technology combined with the beauty of space all around it. They were standing in an area obscured by walls, but she was able to peer over them.
The floors were grey. The walls were white. There was a building at the top of the floor plan and one to the right, automated walkways leading to a different area. Looking up, she thought that she saw a glass dome covering the city, the blackness of space, dotted with its stars completely surrounding them. And everywhere contained within this bubble, angels. Floating a meter or so off the floor and seeming to have no purpose whatsoever. Just hanging in the air like living dolls.
"They're all angels," Lloyd whispered, peering over the wall with her "We're gonna get caught if we just wander around here."
"You're right. We'll pretend to be Colette's prisoners. She should be fine because she's an angel." Raine suggested. It was… risky. If the angels had any curiosity left, they would ask questions. But it was the only chance they had to find that mana fragment and get out of this place.
The problem they had now was where to start…but Raine supposed they should work logically, starting with the building on the right. With Colette in front, they followed behind her to the building. The angels all but ignored them as Colette glided before them, her wings on show.
The group entered the building, Raine finding it similar to the storage facility in Kvar's ranch. A single angel, dressed in armoured uniform, floated before them, white, feathered wings beating softly.
Colette approached the angel quietly. "Excuse me…could I please have a fragment of mana?"
"Fragments of mana are no longer being distributed. Return to your area." He answered curtly.
"You won't give us one?!" Lloyd questioned, upset.
"A human?!"
Raine stepped forward quickly, pinching Lloyd in punishment. He was not playing the part.
"These are the subjects needed for the Cruxis Crystal research."
"Hi-Exsphere research? I see. Now that you mention it, I've heard that research involving humans were being conducted."
"Yes, exactly. And we require a fragment of mana for that purpose."
"Understood. Then please show me your identification."
"Do we need that?" Zelos questioned…this would be their downfall if they absolutely had to have it.
"Of course."
Zelos frowned and Raine cast an eye over him. The angel had not seemed to consider it strange for one of the 'human test subjects' to be asking such a question. Or at least, not Zelos…
Raine shook her head, they were suddenly cut short and she thought deeply, wondering what they could do to get around the problem. She was, however, saved from the task when the hologramatic communicator flickered into life, displaying Kratos. Raine lifted an eyebrow at his timing…and his appearance, specifically the large, bloody patch of skin being displayed through a large hole burnt into cloth. She had managed to get him after all…
"Lord Kratos!" the angel exclaimed, bowing suddenly.
"We need a fragment of mana for the ritual of the Chosen," he informed the angel, seeming not to notice the group…or else ignoring them "I've sent a courier over to pick it up."
His image flickered out of sight immediately after he delivered the message.
"Yeah, that. That's us!" Lloyd stated, grasping the chance.
"Are you saying you're Lord Kratos' couriers?"
"Y…yeah."
Raine lifted her hand to the boy, striking him hard. "Silence, human!"
"We're with Kratos." Colette spoke up quietly.
"But just a moment ago, you said you were going to use it for hi-Exsphere research…"
"That's right. And it just so happens that it's also needed in the ritual, so we came to retrieve it. Please hurry." Raine replied.
"But without identification…" he mumbled
"While you're complaining about these little nitpicky details, you're keeping Yggdrasill waiting. Do you want to tick him off?"
Finally, Lloyd had learnt how to persuade people, all be it in a very brusque manner.
"A…all right." The angel muttered before flying to the top of the storage facility. He came back a moment later, a box in hand, handing it to Colette. The girl opened the box quickly, checking on the shimmering, glowing object inside, before handing it to Raine. She tucked it away inside her coat quickly.
With the mana fragment in their possession, and the last of the items required for healing Colette, they turned their thoughts to getting out of the city and to Altessa's as quickly as possible. Colette's crystallisation had partly restricted the movement of her shoulder and elbow of her left arm. Time was getting short.
They left the building and headed for the automated walkways, letting them guide them to the centre of the city of angels. Welgaia, as one of the signs named it. The city in fact, seemed to be almost a technologically advanced version of Exire. Islands with walkways leading in between them.
"Hey, look at that." Genis pointed to the other side of the city. A beam of purple energy rings were being beamed ever upwards into the air.
"A giant…transporter, perhaps?"
"Maybe we use that to get back to the ground." Lloyd suggested. It seemed a logical guess and Raine nodded, directing Colette over to it. Once there, however, they were turned away again…apparently, identification was required to move anywhere in this place. Not that she could really blame Yggdrasill. It would actually be stupid not to have those security measures.
With no other choice, they began to look around for more means of escape, taking the only remain walkway to the area they had not visited yet. It turned out to be a data room, or so Raine reasoned, and she scanned the computer banks. Perhaps, if they had time, they could collect some information whilst they were here…namely from the computer on the other side of the room. The only one that wasn't guarded.
She hacked into the system quickly, finding it to indeed be a database…and from the data present on it she had to wonder why it wasn't guarded. Perhaps Kratos was helping them from the shadows?
All the information present was about Derris-Kharlan, Yggdrasill's plans and even the Eternal sword they were placing so much theory on…it seemed strange that the fact that nearly all Yggdrasill's power came from the eternal sword was documented. It seemed the sort of information one would want to keep to themselves…
"We've obtained some very valuable information," Raine commented as the group finished reading and pulled away from the screen "But we shouldn't stay here long. Let's escape through that emergency route that we found earlier." She suggested, pointing to the emergency teleporter Colette had spied earlier. With the exit in sight they quickly headed back to the other side of the room, stepping onto the horizontal transporter.
"It looks like that's the emergency exit." Colette commented.
"Ok, let's go before anyone sees us…" Lloyd muttered, kicking the machine into action. It lurched as it began to cross the gap.
"No, it looks like they already found us." Raine pointed to the group of angels that had just entered the room and the group balked as they began to head towards them.
Colette, under Raine's instruction, took to the air grabbing Genis and carrying him over to the teleporter, taking it to wherever it may lead whilst the others stood waiting on the moving platform.
Zelos, Sheena and Regal jumped from the platform when they were a few metres away, taking the transporter down, giving Raine, Lloyd and Presea space and time to be teleported before the angels could catch them. It was a close call though, and the second Raine was through, bringing up the rear, Regal smashed the receiving warp pad, preventing the angels from following. They had no delusions, however, that that would stop Cruxis from pursuing them and they quickly took off down the stairs before them.
The area they had entered into was a bizarre labyrinth of winding glass and red walled passages, gates arranged strategically. They seemed to be there to make progression as slow as possible and had it not been for Raine's extraordinary patience with these sorts of things, she would have tried kicking the gates down.
The anti-gravity rooms weren't helping at all either, despite watching Zelos crashing into things and managing to rip a sizable patch of material from the seat of his white pants. Apparently he favoured almost thong sized underwear, an affectation that always confused Raine. Why would a male want to have such tight underwear restricting that particular body part?
It felt like hours that they spent navigating the area, collecting keys and opening gates and Raine felt utterly relieved when they found an elevator without an angel managing to capture them. Taking the elevator down they then travelled across the room to a transporter, hopefully the last stage of the journey back down to earth.
It was, and even Presea let out a noise of relief as they appeared in the main chamber of the tower of salvation, the great purple blade standing in the centre of the room.
Lloyd approached the blade, peering at it.
"This is the sword Yggdrasill struck me with…"
"Could this be the Eternal Sword then?" Raine wondered aloud. Zelos laughed loudly at the suggestion, somehow making the woman feel inferior. Something very few people could do. Kratos was really the only other man who could manipulate her so.
"No way. Nobody'd leave a sword that important in a place like this."
Raine frowned. He had a point, but that logic didn't necessarily work. Yggdrasill might use the logic of: closer to danger, further from harm. They would overlook the sword because it seemed an unlikely place to leave something that important.
"How about we take it to Heimdall and show it to the Elder?" Lloyd suggested. Genis nodded.
"Good idea. That way we'd know for sure."
It was as Lloyd turned back to the sword, reaching out to grasp it that the familiar soft but commanding voice of Yggdrasill echoed around the room.
"You have not the right."
Moments later, Lloyd was flung away from the sword by a wave of energy.
"Oww," Lloyd grunted, pulling himself to his feet "What happened?!"
Yggdrasill appeared before them as the words left Lloyd's mouth, the blank green eyes glaring at Lloyd.
"A waste of effort," The angel mocked. "The Eternal Sword cannot be touched by those who lack the right."
"The right?"
"He must be talking about the pact with Origin!" Sheena answered "That's the sword Yggdrasill tricked Origin into giving him!"
Yggdrasill laughed at the girl's accusatory words and Raine couldn't quite understand, even with her rationale, how this person once saved the world. But perhaps her problem was that she was rational. Yggdrasill was clearly insane and so she had no hope of understanding him.
"You really are a pathetic bunch," Yggdrasill sighed "It matters not. Origin is under Kratos' seal. Either way, it is impossible for you to wield that sword. And without the power of the Eternal Sword, you cannot reunite the worlds. Your journey is futile."
"Futile?" Lloyd questioned "You're the one who's making futile attempts to bring back the dead! Besides, what does splitting the world in two even have to do with that?!"
"The worlds still exist only because they were separated into two." Yggdrasill answered in a dangerously quiet voice.
"No! It's because of being split in two that there's not enough mana and countless people are suffering!"
"Think for a moment," Yggdrasill ordered "Why is there a shortage of mana? Well? What do you think, my fellow kinsman?" he turned his grey-green eyes onto Genis. Raine frowned. She wanted to tell Genis not to respond. Yggdrasill was assuming that Genis was the weak link, that as a young half-elf, he would side with him. She hoped he was wrong…her brother could still be unfortunately idealistic.
"Um…because the development of magitechnology resulted in a large consumption of mana?" Genis answered.
"Yes…and that magitechnology led to a great war. War consumes an abhorrent amount of mana."
"Don't change the subject," Lloyd snapped "There's a mana shortage because you won't let the Great Seed germinate."
"I am not changing the subject. Even if the Giant Tree were to be revived, another war would make it wither and die. Wars are caused by two opposing forces. That is why I split the world in two: To isolate the powers that caused that foolish Kharlan War into the worlds of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla."
"By alternating between prosperity and dearth, the development of magitechnology is subdued," Raine summarised "So that was your plan."
"Although, at the moment, Tethe'alla has prospered for a little too long." Yggdrasill conceded. Raine lifted an eyebrow in agreement.
"You're lying," Lloyd accused the angel "You're sacrificing the Great Seed just to save Martel."
"That's right," the angel agreed. Lloyd flinched, clearly not expecting that answer…but Yggdrasill was well aware of how to make an impact on people. "The same way you abandoned the declining world of Sylvarant in order to save Colette."
He smirked. "What you're doing is exactly the same."
"No, it's not!"
"Yes it is."
Raine rolled her eyes at the supposedly intellectual angel's response.
"No it's not!! Lloyd isn't like you!" Genis butted in.
"What?" Yggdrasill questioned, looking surprised.
"Lloyd is looking for a way to save both Colette and the world! You're a coward who gave up!"
"It is the same thing," the angel answered, his voice not quite as cool and composed as it had once been "I am trying to create a world without discrimination. That is the way to save the world."
"A world without discrimination? That's…"
"People fear and hate what is not normal. They are scared of those that are different. Then the solution is for everyone to become the same. By using the Exspheres to eliminate the different bloods that flow through elves and humans, everyone on this earth will become the same lifeless beings. Discrimination will vanish. That is the grand age I strive for."
"Everyone…the same…" Genis whispered, staring up at the man.
"Yes. Desians and Cruxis both exist for this purpose. The conflicts between the races born from discrimination will disappear, Genis."
Genis took a few steps towards Yggdrasill and Raine had to stop herself from reaching out to stop in. She had to trust her brother not to be swayed by words and empty promises. Yggdrasill was nothing more than a politician now.
"People will stop treating us differently? Really?"
"Genis!" Lloyd called "Don't fall for it! Think about how the Exspheres are made! They're made at the cost of people's lives, like Marble. Don't you see what's wrong with that?!"
"With revolution comes sacrifice. If you cannot understand that, then you deserve to die with the others." Yggdrasill responded. He disappeared a second later, only to reappear on the lower level, in front of Lloyd.
"However, first you'll hand over the Chosen."
"No! I won't let you!"
"You have no choice."
Raine watched as Lloyd, once again, launched into battle, this time against an opponent whom he hadn't a hope in hell of beating. Presea and Regal joined in the battle this time, allowing the still weary Sheena and Genis some rest. Lloyd, ideally, shouldn't have been fighting either…but there was really no way to stop him. Zelos stepped forwards, pushing Raine out of the battlefield, taking it upon himself to heal the group as much as his ability allowed him to.
Unsurprisingly, however, the battle did not last long. Yggdrasill was far too powerful and the group all but exhausted by the day's events. What did surprise Raine was the amount of damage Lloyd and the others had managed to inflict upon the angel. His clothes were tattered and scorched, the unprotected skin on his chest bruised and scratched and it was only the outburst attack that sent Lloyd slamming to the floor that stopped the group in its tracks. Yggdrasill glared as Lloyd staggered to his feet, the boy looking as if he wanted to have another go.
The sudden event of Colette collapsing, however, stopped him, and he dashed over to the girl, Raine following suit.
"Colette!"
Growling Genis cast a single fireball from his kendama, driving Yggdrasill back as he made to approach the fallen girl. He grabbed at his chest in response backing off as Pronyma appeared beside him, looking concerned for the wellbeing of her Lord.
"Lord Yggdrasill!" she exclaimed, moving towards him before fixing her eyes on Genis who stood with his kendama still lifted into the air.
"You little vermin! You may be one of us, but you shall pay for your treachery!" she lifted her hand, summoning dark mana to her, preparing to attack him and Raine called out to her brother, crying for him to move out of the way.
Genis' reflexes, however, left something to be desired and he stood frozen on the spot as Pronyma threw her attack at him. The attack struck flesh and Genis cried out…not in pain but surprise. Yggdrasill had taken the blow for him…
"W…why?" Genis asked.
Yggdrasill straightened.
"L..Lord Yggdrasill…" Pronyma stuttered, knowing now that she had done wrong, not only by injuring her lord, but by trying to attack Genis also.
"Pronyma!" Yggdrasill snapped "Why are you here?"
Her face took on a sudden expression of composure. "Sir. Ah…new activity in regards to that certain matter has…"
"Understood," he floated away from Genis to look at the group. "Not always is there a way to save everyone. Remember that. Lloyd, the path you seek is nothing but an illusion."
The two Cruxis members disappeared in a flash of light a moment later, but not before Yggdrasill had thrown Genis a meaningful glance.
Lloyd stared after them. "Why did he let us go?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Raine saw Genis moving, stooping as if to pick something up but she had more important things to worry about. Like the girl lying semi-conscious in her arms.
"Lloyd, we must treat Colette as quickly as possible." She reminded. Lloyd turned back to look at her.
"Right. Let's head to Altessa's place."
They left the tower as quickly as possible, Zelos carrying Colette, and made their way around to the other side of the mountain range before sinking down to the ground level cottage in which Altessa lived. Lloyd ran ahead, bursting in and explaining the situation as Raine walked alongside Zelos, keeping an eye on the unconscious Colette.
"We have the necessary items to cure her," Raine explained as Zelos placed the girl down onto one of the beds inside. "Please save her."
Altessa looked confused. "You found out how to cure it?! But what can I do?…"
"We want you to make something called a Rune Crest! I remember the process as described in the book."
"Let us hurry, Master." Tabatha urged. Altessa nodded after a moment of thought.
"All right. Everyone else, go outside."
Raine watched them go before turning to Altessa, pulling out the objects they had collected for the treatment and beginning to explain the process to him…
--
Raine spent the next few hours watching Altessa work and finally fit the Rune crest to Colette and she sighed in relief before leaving the girl to rest, following Altessa and Tabatha from the room. They were instantly bombarded with questions of course and Raine was content to listen in quietly. Quite frankly, all she wanted to do now was rest. Zelos however, insisted on eating and plied Lloyd with food. Eventually the teenager had to tell the older man to stop.
Raine shook her head. She had only eaten a little herself, just enough to keep her going until breakfast. She couldn't eat much before going to bed.
It was when Lloyd staggered from his chair and looked to the bedroom that she became concerned about him.
"Now I feel sleepy all of a sudden. I'm going to bed."
"It's not good for your digestion if you sleep right after eating." Raine told him.
"Are you alright?" Regal asked "Your fatigue may have finally caught up with you."
"I'm fine. I'm just going to lie down for a little while." He answered before staggering off to the bedrooms. Raine frowned and a few minutes later, announced that she was going to check onto the boy and she followed him in. He was sleeping soundly when she found him and she rolled her eyes before pulling him onto his side, hoping it would stop him from having indigestion when he woke.
Suddenly exhausted herself, she turned to one of the free beds and lay down upon it, wanting to rest and she drifted off to sleep easily, glad for the soft bed and hoping that when she woke up she would feel fresh and ready to take on the world.
Hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter should be very very interesting (because we all know what happens next) so I'll do my best to fulfil expectations. We're nearing the end, folks.
Thanks for reading :)